Happy 23rd Birthday, Catie!

March 2024

Happy Birthday our sweet Catie,

This letter that we have written to you each year is an update on all we as a family have accomplished since your last birthday. We share this letter with all those that support the Foundation that bears your name. Our words are filled with love and longing that we could be sharing them with you while holding you in our arms, not just our hearts. Here, we outline the actions that have been taken, always hoping that they make a difference in the lives of others impacted by pediatric cancer. I know several people who have shared that they can’t even read the letter as it is “simply too sad,” and yet our words and thoughts are always words of faith and focused on HOPE, not your loss.

We struggled to start writing this year as we were waiting for a few of the pieces of your siblings’ lives to fall into place before we began. Some have, some have not; that is life. When this photo was taken it was a moment of pure joy, promise for the future, and love. Looking at the photo we remember the joy and still feel the love for each of you. Never would we have imagined that seven months later you would be diagnosed, and so much of the joy and promise would be at risk. Your diagnosis changed all of us; but what we held onto was the love, the faith, and each other.

Maggie is an ICU nurse. She always wanted to be a critical care nurse and this December she passed her exam and now has her CCRN. Max is a LtJG in the US Navy and was deployed this past July. His ship spent the hot summer in the Middle East and served in the Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean through February. He is finally coming home, and we are thrilled. Mia graduated from college early with a degree in biology. She changed her degree from PA to Biology when she asked St. Jude for your patient files to research your tumor for her Capstone Project. When you were diagnosed in 2008 the survival rate for an AT/RT was 0%. Today, just fifteen years later, it is 65%. Mia wants to be part of successes like that for what you always called the “next kid” and so she will be doing lab work and investigating graduate programs in cancer research. Molly has changed her major, focusing now on Computer Science. College roommates were a challenge last semester. Thankfully she had her cat, Biscuit, with her to assist with stress relief and is now in a good place. ME is finishing up her Senior year at Trinity High School, her Basketball team reached the first round of states and Lacrosse season is underway. Her next step is to study Biomedical Engineering at Pitt. For each of them, as for all of us, the future is both plotted and unknown and yet it is filled with HOPE, you taught us that, focus on the HOPE of an amazing future; thank you Catie.

This is another of our favorite photos. We still enjoy the amazing sunsets visible from our home that were always a favorite of yours. Remember sitting on the deck listening to us read stories and watching the sunsets before bed? The reason this photo is a favorite is because you are still in it. Life doesn’t always go according to our plans yet many times you will learn that things that are unplanned end up to be those things that you treasure most.

This year on your birthday Candee and a generous donation from Thrivent will place stress balls and yo-yos in the hands of all St. Jude patients. Candee arranges the “Happys” each year as a tribute to your love for this wonderful southern tradition of a little something to make someone’s day. Candee is amazing and we are so grateful for her support. Two of the schools you attended, St. Columbkill and St. Joseph’s, still honor your memory with prayers for current pediatric cancer patients and fundraising activities that will fuel the research to provide HOPE for the next kid. All these efforts are like planting seeds of HOPE just like the image of your logo.

We continue to serve your mission, eradicating pediatric cancer through prayer and research. Working with Penn State and serving the families locally who are grieving and trying to find their way without their child. The work goes on at St. Jude from fundraising and speaking engagements, to teaching Fellows and Nurses as a Parent Educator, to Day of Remembrance (DOR) and identifying resources and being there for others. We are doing our best to fill the broken pieces of our hearts through giving to others in the HOPE of making a difference, just like you did for us. Last year ME joined us at DOR. It was amazing to see her engaging and helping the other teens. Your absence is different for each of us. Most of us miss you and wish you were here. Some of us wish we had more memories of you and we think that is the way it is for so many of those who support your Wish. Many who never even knew you join with us because your story touches their lives and they want to be a part of something that gives HOPE for the next kid and the next family. Our beautiful little girl, you inspire us all. We love you, we miss you, and we long for the day when you are once again not just in our hearts, but in our arms.

Until then, we continue on always in the HOPE of making a difference.

God is good, all the time,

Mom and Dad

Posted by Kevin O'Brien Saturday, March 30th, 2024 @ 11:08 am

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